Before we could say Jack Robinson; before we could catch our breath, the ever refreshing and glorious month that is May has come and is closing its cycle today. It is a month of storms, a month of lightning and thunder. It is a month of restoration. When lightning and thunder strike, we dash under the table, under the bed, shaken to our marrows for whatever can give us that momentary cover. Yet, there must be lightning and thunder to moderate temperate and tropical atmospheric temperature imbalance. May comes with a weather that is a mixture of rain and sunshine, a signal to the rainy days ahead. In these times, the failings of EKDC and its siblings scattered at Ikeja, Ibadan, Benin, Enugu, Kaduna, Jos—I am sure in combustible Kano, as well—do not get as much trumpeted on rooftops as they are accustomed to receiving in January and February when the day and night can be refreshingly cool. This reminds me by way of digression, as my boss, Allah-De, was wont to say, when the weather begins to wink at you, a sign that rain is on the way, get your candle ready. These days, get your inverter ready! But pray that the inverter supplier/engineers do not become the new NEPA, NEPA of blessed memory, unfeeling and uncaring. Who can fight Nature, despite your thunder arrestor and a booster one mounted by the supplier; thunder can still damage your inverter as it has done to mine! What is Nature? I am entreating Mr. Mikhail Gorbachev who dismantled the Soviet Union to be on standby.

There is so much to say and write about the month of May. As Numerologists are wont to say, those who preoccupy themselves with the science of numbers, Figure 5 represents Love. It is powered by the force that is Love. May, being the fifth month of the year therefore swings in the Law of Numbers as the month of love. Sandwiched between April, the fourth month which swings in Nature featuring awakening and sprouting and June the month of power, the love of May is particularly significant and it is not to be interpreted in the narrow sense. For love is not indulgence. It is severity. The releasing power of love gives to everyone that which is of benefit to him. Thus, it is said true love gives benefit, not comfort. Ultimately in benefit lies comfort. The tongue of fire in a furnace, for example, is beautiful and attractive. A child finding it irresistible only needs to touch once in his life to learn the right lesson! In experiencing, therefore, lies knowledge, and knowledge rightly applied leads to maturity and development. Instantly, the hearty, unburdened laughter of the child turns to a loud outcry!

In May, regeneration in Nature, a gift of love, drives everything relentlessly towards its climax, particularly towards the end of the month. In this driving or forcing towards blossom, everything is animated and it regenerates the good and the bad, to bring to their authors, in justice, the bountiful harvest of their labour. This May ending today, what can we say has been amiss? Practically everything, some would say. If anything, the standard of living has taken more heartless bashings and dipped beyond last year’s levels. The beating of the chest since Buhari’s era on the catalogue of magic achievements on occasions of anniversaries has continued. I did state in this column that I was going to give Bola Tinubu one year of honeymoon to find his feet. That honey moon was over two days ago. I will henceforth mount my observatory pole. In the area of security, it is the same old story! But thank goodness, life goes on. Perhaps in the hope which Bola Tinubu has made his sing song. Hope of a better tomorrow, however, only if we ourselves change for the better. For only a completely different people who can produce a completely different leader, thus a completely different nation since the people can only give what they have. In a democratic setting such as the world clamours for and embraces, leaders rise through the ranks of the populace to brandish before their gaze their own mirror which the leaders constitute. Who has heard of cocoa being harvested where a seed of oranges was planted? Who has not heard of the law of sowing and reaping? This column has stated repeatedly that our world is governed. We supply the threads for the weaving of our carpet of fate.
The season of mango is moving away. In the goodness of the Almighty, maize is returning to town. A reflective person may not easily discountenance the fact that one mango seed holds the promise of hundreds of thousands of mango fruits. Anyone may venture to count the number of ears of corn on a cob of maize. Upon reflecting that there may sometimes be as many as five cobs on a stalk and as many as four hundred ears of corn to a cob, we see that the lesson rings home powerfully that there may be as many as 2,000ears of corn generated from an only one. Then the picture is of the Law is clear: Whatever a man soweth that shall he reap in multiples and many times over.

Back to the subject of May and Nature raeminds me of those memorable thoughts of Mr. Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet agent of change and liberation of its various peoples who constituted the country from an unnatural union. Mr. Gorbachev said in 1994: “As an ongoing re-evaluation of values is basic to the evolution of civilization. In its early history, mankind treated Nature with reverence. People were afraid of Nature, regarding it as something superior and unfathomable; they worshipped Nature as a kind of deity. Harming Nature was considered a deadly sin. Later, as man accumulated knowledge and practical skills, he began to see himself as superior to Nature, setting himself the goal of conquering it and subordinating it to his own interests. Soon it became apparent that the arrogance of technical knowledge scars Nature with wounds that will not heal.”

Mr. Gorbachev went on to blame the problem in the relationship between man and nature on “a crisis of spirit.” He urged the world to recognize the urgent need to reconsider the old views and attitudes towards nature and reach a new level in learning the laws that govern the system that incorporates man and nature.”

What then is Nature? This brings us back to the fundamental issue Mr. Gorbachev raised in his profound perception. What is Mother Nature? Like many human words which have lost their original meaning in human perception long ago, the concept of Nature remains nothing but a vague expression for many people today. Many long to be close to Nature. They throng the sea shore for its refreshing spectacle, the rippling of waters, the undertows, the sheer breath-taking expanse of the ocean that bows the spirit; tides rising and falling. Some wander in the woods for oozing of insects, the ruffling of leaves. Some head for the mountains for their rarifying effects on the spirit and others behold the undulating hills. Many long to be close to Nature when they are tormented by the plastic city life and flee to the beautiful greens of the invigorating countryside, even if only for a short while. These days it also has suddenly become wise to be natural for the sake of good health. Medicine is advancing quite all right. But has it not created two problems where it solves one? Natural spring water is thus the vogue. And there is a return in droves to herbal remedies once discarded as having no place in modern medicine. Talk of beautiful nature fills the air. We speak of natural beauty and everyone is enraptured by beauty that is natural, which has moved away from artificiality that is not animated, that is dead. Yet simultaneously, man has not evinced signs of being tired to tinker with the conquest of Nature. Are we not in the time of Mr. AI, the rapidly growing Artificial Intelligence? Two weeks ago, one product of Artificial Intelligence was posted to me. It was a lady you cannot believe is not real! I am told before long An Artificial Intelligence pilot will be flying our planes. It is been sold to us as far more competent and precision-driven than man! After all, what are drones?

Any talk of nature today is likely to evoke no more than images of coarse forms, that is, outward appearances. Pictures of landscapes automatically arise as do those of all that are perceivable by the physical senses. At best, this picture conceives of the earth or the galaxy or the entire subsequent Creation as belonging to Nature. In a sense this would not be an altogether false or incomplete picture if these manifestations often called seen as no more than mere visible effects of the intricate natural activities behind which stand some beings. Yes, some beings! But not perchance human beings. To be certain , Nature is the undistorted material effects of the activities of these Nature Beings. Matter has no life of its own. It assumes a living form when it has been glowed through. These forms, glowing, warm and active are then able to unite to produce power and even stronger forms. When the animating glow withdraws, matter collapses or dies and returns to its primeval state. The glow is a healthy union of radiations and distinguishes what belongs to Nature.

Engrained in the works of Nature also is the capacity for self-strengthening and propagation. In the end we will all become aware that all of life is radiations and that the visible life is nothing other than the coarse replicas of fine animating core. We can now connect the dots about what tells a woman from a man as being bundles of different radiations. Thus, we are told in the enlightenment graciously mediated to all mankind in these times that a woman is defined by the nature of her activities.

Thus, the tones in the radiations of the month of May, most importantly of the special power from On High, drive the month in all its encompassing invigorating love. So is it that we stand encompassed in the unrelenting driving power of May. In the grip of its radiance, of that unfathomable Love which only Jesus Christ, the Love of God can mediate, swinging in Figure 5, and the Holy Spirit in Figure 7 which is also perfection, in unswerving Justice, lays upon no one nothing more than he has taken upon himself–both Arms in everlasting Holy Trinity with the Father, the Father in Them and They in the Father.

When we look at the world, every country and possibly as many men and women, the signs of the nature of the harvest of the future of our world is self-evident, even today. In May, specifically, 30 May, out of love, the Almighty Creator renews His Creation with the outpouring of Power from On High, from the Highest Temple standing at the peak of Paradise, into our universe. It is the Day the Holy Dove appears over a vessel, called Chalice. It is from this vessel that all the worlds below receive power from the Almighty Creator for their continued existence, flowering and fruiting. We must bow our spirits in worshipful thankfulness and adoration for His ever-present Grace.

For millions in anguished parts of the world, certainly for us in vast swathes of the African continent, this is a daybreak on a new democratic promise. The warning is clear. sooner or later, the clamour of equity breaks down the stoutest gates on guard across the citadel of impunity,

The Trump debacle is a challenge also, a call to preparedness and steadfastness.  Installed and putative fascisms – secular, military or theocratic - will extract from this only the wrong lessons, batten down and ‘crack down’ in self-protection.  It is “Not yet Uhuru”, not anywhere close for humanity in our global village. Nonetheless, a celebration, albeit in a minor key, is justified.

Donald Trump

p.s.  Seeing that this trite, personal gesture attracted such inordinate attention at the time, let me answer the question before it is asked: Yes, I may choose to apply for restoration of my card of Permanent Residence, known as the Green Card. Possibly.

Wole SOYINKA

A.R.I. (Permanent Resident)

Ogun State, Nigeria

May 30, 2024

This week last year, two things were enthroned in the Nigerian political space. One was the man, Bola Tinubu, who was sworn in as the president. The other was the myth of the man as a headhunter endowed with a unique instinct for sourcing the right talent and an astute administrator. So much was this idea of Tinubu as administrative capacity believed that his supporters were sure he would—to use the language of former Abia state governor Orji Kalu—forward Nigeria to all forwardness. Well, it is one year now, and we might as well start asking how that myth has fared.

Let me digress here to point out that two kinds of people propagated the myth of Tinubu’s governing capacity. In one category are those you might call the Know-No-Betters. These are those who have never seen—let alone lived in—a properly functioning city and therefore have no frame of comparison when they were told Tinubu would build Nigeria as he built Lagos. They could be beguiled by the travesty of Lagos, a city where property value costs a fortune but cannot even boast of something as basic as potable water because that is the height of their experience. Even when they see the seedy sides of Lagos, their desperation for an idol to worship pushes them to willingly blind themselves to reality by eagerly gorging on glossy photoshopped images of Eko Atlantic. When you can self-soothe with the visuals of utopia, dystopia becomes livable.

Then there are the Dishonest-Know-Betters—the people whose lives and livelihoods depend on peddling lies, distortions, sentiments, and blatantly voiced falsehoods. They have experienced functional societies so they know what we have is subpar but they still tell you it is sufficient. Nigeria’s future does not concern them because they have built a safe house elsewhere where they and their children will forever be untainted by the rottenness of the country.

So, how has the myth of Tinubu as a savvy administrator held up? Well, two separate policies might best illustrate how they have conducted themselves in office so far. On May 29, 2023, Tinubu pronounced the three words that immediately unleashed hardship on Nigerians who had already endured hell under the Muhammadu Buhari administration: subsidy is gone. Now, the issue is not that he removed the subsidy—that was already expected—but he was haphazard about such a significant step.

Here is why: about a month after that pronouncement, he announced that he could announce the decision because he was under the influence of some “spirits.” Please think about that for a moment. The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria made a decision that would affect the lives and livelihood of millions of people, not because he had sat down and worked out a policy agenda with an economic team, but because he was pushed by some voices in his head? Wow!

If it was some “spirits” that took possession of him and forced the words out of his mouth, it means there was no thorough planning to see how the fuel subsidy removal would work, how to mitigate the resultant suffering, and how to assess if their programme was working. Even worse, it means he cannot fully take responsibility for the fallouts of such a programme since it originated from some forces. Whatever pain and hardship you will experience due to his policy decision is not for him to bear. After all, he only acted under some supernatural influence when he pronounced the policy into effect. That too is worth ruminating over: the man some people convinced themselves would turn Nigeria into a Dubai does not plan.

Then came this year when the same administration that told us that the fuel subsidy that helped to attenuate the economic reality was a waste also approved a whopping N90bn to subsidise the hajj pilgrimage. Again, this is worth a reflection: the man saw Nigerians groan in pain from his fuel subsidy removal and grovelled for help, but looked away. They insisted on delivering the hard shocks because the subsidies were supposedly a waste of resources. They offered “palliatives” instead. Their efforts in this direction were so poorly thought-out and poorly organised that they reversed the plan. So, while they had no answer for the pain of the generality of Nigerians and resolutely watched people suffer, they had no qualms catering to a tiny segment of the population embarking on something as privileged as a religious pilgrimage.

What is worse than Tinubu paying N90bn on the hajj this year is that he has to pay it next year, and the year after, and continue like that, especially as his second term election approaches. If he fails to sustain it, the Muslim population whose vote he is targeting through the humongous expense will not forgive him. Worse still, they would have forgotten what he paid in 2024. He has to keep up the spending. Given the Nigerian penchant to turn virtually any initiative into an avenue to siphon public funds, do not be any surprised if that N90bn starts ballooning yearly. You assess the situation he got himself and long-suffering Nigerians into, and wonder how a man who was so mythicized could unravel that quickly. When it came to administering pain and shock, Tinubu was possessed with the spirits of “courage” and “freedom” as he gayly put it. When it came to standing up to religious and ethnic sentiments, his pandering revealed those spirits as “cowardice” and “economic bondage.”

But that is not only where the legion spirits of indecisiveness have possessed the man. First, he took forever to assemble a cabinet even though he won the election in March. He had enough time to decide on a team; he just took it for granted. By the time he unfolded his team, there was initially some confusion over who had made the list. When the final list was unfolded, it was anything but inspiring. Even some of his supporters who had boasted that he knows how to look for the best people were disappointed by how many of those nominated were recycled from the garbage cans of the past administration. To think they even expanded the cabinet just to take some clowns on board.

He signed the Student Loan Act into law, but they later withdrew it with the promise to return. Till now, they are still fumbling through the launch. He recalled ambassadors from their posts, but it turned out that he had no plans in place to replace them. He also proposed the Green Tax but had to reverse it when the introduction turned out to be ill-timed. Then there were the Import Tax Adjustment Levy, Expatriate Tax, and the Cybersecurity Levy that were introduced but needed to be reversed. He will probably go down in history as the president with the most reversed policies in the history of governance at the rate he is going. Even the construction Lagos-Calabar highway, announced with fanfare, had not been fully thought through. Then the blatant and needless lies such as the UAE visa ban and the Maersk affair suggest that they lack any integrity. If they cannot be honest with even the simple things, why should you trust them on the big things?

Plot all of these together, and you come up with a solid picture of a man whose administration lacks coordination and takes decisions based on what their hormones (and some spirits, of course) dictate. Tinubu’s myth as an efficient administrator that has always been propped up with media propaganda and self-serving intellectuals has severely unravelled, revealing an unpleasant picture of the man, the myth, and the mediocrity. To think we are going through this after “16 years of the Peoples Democratic Party” and “eight years of Buhari.” Add the past one year, and you see 25 directionless years. God help somebody!

'Nigeria has lost a gem to the cold hands of death'

The nation was, in the early hours of Sunday, 26th May 2024, awoke to the sad news of the demise of DIG Larmorde, who was undergoing medical treatment in faraway Egypt. The news of his demise was shocking to the generality of Nigerians who knew him in much the same way as it evoked a deep sense of loss for those who had the good fortune of working and interacting closely with this dutiful, unassuming and gentlemanly Officer of the Nigerian Police Force.

My first encounter with DIG Lamorde was in 2007, when I was representing a high-profile political figure from the south-south geopolitical zone of the country. He was courteous and pleasant and treated my client with dignity. Our parts were to cross again in November 2011 when President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR, appointed him as the Ag. Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) while I was serving as the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.  

In all my interactions with him and his official capacity as chairman of the EFCC, I found Ibrahim Lamorde to be passionate and dutiful in the discharge of his duties. Under him, the EFCC’s operations were professional, cases were painstakingly investigated, and the rights of persons under investigation were duly respected as they were treated with respect and the dignity they deserved. Mr Ibrahim Lamorde would, in his characteristic candour, proffer opinion based on facts before him and independently discharge his duties in accordance with the dictates of his conscience and the best traditions of reputable investigating authorities.

DIG Ibrahim Lamorde (Rtd)

Despite his rank and exalted position, Ibrahim Lamorde was never carried away with the allure of power. He was humble yet firm in his convictions. I recall vividly his discussions with me regarding his modus operandi as a top cop and Chairman of the EFCC. He stated, “Public Officers must hold themselves accountable to their superiors, the society and most importantly, God.” This was the barometer against which all his official actions and conduct were measured. He often reiterated his resolve not to pander to the wishes of people in authority, as he felt bound to do right at all times and circumstances. Given my experiences with those who have held the office of EFCC Chairman before and after him, I am moved to state boldly that he was a rare gem.

As we mourn his passing to the great beyond, I am convinced that his good works will speak for him before his creator. May Allah console his family and grant him Ajannah Firduarsi.

Adieu to a Gentleman, Officer, and Patriot.

Signed

Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke, CFR, SAN

“Anthems are ideological recitations that help the people to be more focused. It was an unfortunate development for the military to have changed the anthem.”

-Frank Tietie
(In an earlier interview)

Nigeria's new anthem, written by a Briton, sparks criticism after a contentious law is passed https://ca.news.yahoo.com/nigerias-anthem-written-briton-sparks-194844367.html

If the Star Spangled Banner and 'God Save the King' would remain for centuries in the USA and UK, respectively, on what basis did the military government have to change the National Anthem that was associated with Nigeria's independence?

The choice of the military government of General Olusegun Obasanjo to change the independence national anthem was an attempt to distort the history and emerging ethos of the new nation, Nigeria, in 1960. It didn't matter whether the original (now new) anthem was composed by a Briton. It is the same reason that laws that were in England as of 1st January 1900 are still applicable in Nigeria today. That's how you trace national foundations.

The original national anthem, which the regime of President Bola Tinubu has now restored, naturally speaks more to the foundational challenges of the true federation that Nigeria was at independence and the resolve of the Nigerian people to exalt the new state above the centrifugal forces of ethnicity and other primordial aspirations.

The Military replacement national anthem, on the contrary, was a bundle of contradictions and highly unrealistic recitations that remained unattainable.

An anthem that acknowledges the reality of the divisions among Nigerians is better than the one based on lies.

Such lies as follows :
Nigerians are compatriots who have a love for their country and do want to serve it with their strength as an expression of faith that it would be a great country which the labours of its past heroes (like our former leaders) shouldn't be in vain. And so serve the country with their heart and might to build a country whose unity and peace are defined by freedom.- What a lie!

The entire 1st stanza of the now discarded national anthem was a cluster of lies. The experience of the last 45 years of its adoption can attest that it was. Nigerians never believed in it because they unconsciously regarded it as a mockery of reality.

Therefore, it is little wonder why the 2nd stanza of the now scrapped anthem, though a prayer, has remained unanswered after nearly 50 years because the God of creation hates lies, especially foundational lies that people knowingly and collectively hold out. Such cannot engender answered prayer from the Almighty God of creation.

Frank Tietie
Lawyer and Public Affairs Analyst writes from Abuja.

For the deposed Kano Emir, Aminu Bayero, it was not a matter of if but when. The moment the Supreme Court upheld Governor Abba Yusuf’s election in January, Bayero knew the governor would need the throne to pay his debt. 

During the campaign, the governor promised that if he were elected, he would revoke the sharing of the Kano Municipal Emirate between two Bayeros among the four new emirs and restore the throne’s singular pre-eminence.

Of course, he won. But before the ruling of the Supreme Court in January affirming his election, two lower courts had ruled in favour of the APC candidate, increasing the probability that Yusuf might not get it.

But Yusuf defied the trend and got it. Since then, Aminu Ado Bayero has taken his case to virtually all notable traditional rulers in the country, begging them to beg President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to save him. His last visit was to the Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikuru Adetona. Neither the Awujale, the Sultan, nor any other traditional rulers he had visited could help.

The throne would be used to pay a debt foretold.

Nearly there 

But the re-instated Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, is not sitting pretty yet. Not even one side of his royal buttocks is hugging the throne in the main palace yet. He’s currently in a holding room, besieged by orders and counter-court orders about what should happen next.

A young man genuinely surprised by the drama in Kano asked what the fuss was about. Why should the country almost come to grief over who of two cousins – with ties and friendships that run deep – would become the emir? It’s a fair point. 

There was a time in this country when the business of chiefs, obas, emirs—or any traditional rulers, by whatever description or name—was the concern of local governments.

How they were appointed, kept or removed was local. Their relevance or longevity depended mainly on how their communities perceived their compliance with the customs and traditions. 

Burden of a legacy 

Colonial rule exploited and undermined the system. However, the more significant damage was inflicted by the long years of military rule, which emasculated the states and local governments through a centralised system of administration that left the units bereft. Successive politicians have only paid lip service to federalism.

After the civil war and the national trauma that followed it, the military recruited traditional rulers, amongst others, to help heal the country and deepen their own legitimacy. They courted the institutions, propped them up, and invested them with responsibilities that made them more prestigious, prominent, and powerful.

A number of soldiers, especially from the North, where the traditional institution had grown from colonial rule to become something of a vital centre of political and religious authority, soon took traditional titles to reinvent and perpetuate their control, complete with the feudal and anachronistic levers of power.

Game of Thrones pro-max

A young man born into a modern world of merit, innovation and competence is right to question the sense in a country that advertises itself as a republic but is still obsessing over a wayward, neo-medieval concept called monarchy. The only thing that imitates what is happening in Kano is the fantasy TV series, “Game of Thrones”, based on George R. R. Martin’s book, A Song of Ice and Fire.

But that’s precisely the point about the pathology of the monarchy. Throne rule may be extinct in France and parts of Europe where monarchs paid for feudalism with their heads hoisted on spikes by wild mobs or it may be seriously challenged in a few remaining bastions like Britain, but the drama, the complex themes of power, loyalty and betrayal, remains a reality of our daily existence. That’s why Kano obsesses.

Powers behind the throne 

Sanusi and Bayero fancy themselves as the centre of the drama. They’re not. Both men and their supporters are grist in a vast and complex power mill grinding through the heart of the politics of 2027 and beyond in the North. Whoever wins now will still yield the throne to pay a future debt.

It’s not Sanusi v Bayero. Or some karmic payback either way. It’s the leader of the NNPP Rabiu Kwankwaso v Abdullahi Ganduje and a few key members of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu’s cabinet who want to lead the North in 2027. 

One insider described what is happening as a “skirmish”, insisting that the battle, which obviously consumed former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, is only just beginning.

Coming war

After President Muhammdu Buhari’s catastrophic tenure and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s serial futile attempts at taking the presidency, the North has been asking itself if this is indeed the best it can offer. That soul-searching is at the heart of the jostling to produce credible leadership that can rally the region, if not for the next four years, then certainly for the next general election cycle.

In this coming battle, any potential contender who shows his hand early on may not be politically alive to tell the story. But that will not stop politicians from trying to succeed where El-Rufai was ambushed.

Kwankwaso is one such politician. With the victory at the governorship polls, he regained his political footing in Kano, the largest vote bank in the North-West, where his successor betrayed him. He has been trying, without much success, so far, to trash Ganduje, the chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). 

What Kwankwaso may need to reinforce his grip as the potential pre-eminent political leader in the North, is to secure control of the Kano emirate. Whether given Sanusi’s own volatile history Kwankwaso would find him serviceable in this task is another matter. What is clear is that of the two devils, one is preferred.

Once the emirate is settled, Kwankwaso will return to the immediate task of worming his way into the ruling party. Why would he prefer the ruling party to the prospects of a mega-merger of PDP, LP and others? Because it’s a joke that offers no serious pathway to power, and those mooting the idea know it. Kwankwaso, too, knows it.

Why this skirmish matters 

But he also knows that the only thing more combustible than having FCT Minister Nyesom Wike and Rivers State Governor Simi Fubara in one room is having Kwankwaso and Ganduje in one room. The combatants, with the referee and spectators, are guaranteed a bloody ending. That’s why, after lining his political and monarchical ducks in a row, Kwankwaso’s next stop is Abuja.

Ganduje knows that this is a fight for his political life. And even though forces around the president detest Ganduje, they are united on the matter of blocking any potential leader from the North who is currently outside Tinubu’s inner circle. There’s no guarantee they would succeed but they won’t fail for lack of effort.

As it was in the “Game of Thrones”, expect more surprises, more twists and turns, more convenient alliances, treachery and betrayals. The monarchy may be damaging itself either from within or from outside pressure, but the lessons it teaches about power, about its absolutism and ephemerality, remain for all who have eyes to see.

Ishiekwene, Editor-In-Chief of LEADERSHIP, is the author of the new book Writing for Media and Monetising It.

One year after being in the saddle, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will be the first person to admit that the ride has been bumpy. He is also the first to say he is unfazed by the turbulence as he remains focused on the marathon of the next three years. The past year has been months of baby steps, months of laying the foundations for the next three years of canter.

As Nigeria’s 16th President, Tinubu, during his campaign for the office, said he would make difficult decisions and that running the country would not be business as usual.

From day one, he sought to fulfill his promises, beginning from his earthshaking ‘subsidy is gone’ announcement at the  Eagle Square, on the day he was sworn in. The announcement reverberated around the country and beyond. He was not just actualising a promise he made. He was also affecting the consensus of all the major candidates in the 2023 election that the several decades old, wasteful subsidy must end.

His administration followed this up with the decision to harmonise the foreign exchange rates. The multiple exchange rates executed under his predecessor had given room to various abuses, among which was arbitrage, where people close to the power loop made humongous money, getting forex at the official rate and offloading it at the so-called parallel market for almost 100 percent profit. Both the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank advised the Nigerian government to end the policy, to no avail, as forex obligations piled up, FDI’s dried up, and investors shunned Nigeria. Tinubu knew that to reset the economy and build renewed confidence locally and internationally, there must be a policy change. He took the measure, just as he promised during the campaign, with the government announcing that it wanted to harmonise the rates in ‘weeks’. The financial world took notice that Nigeria is at the cusp of great change.

Although it has taken months to achieve the harmony, with the Naira in the interregnum, taking a massive bashing from the dollar. The heavily hurt currency at a stage fell to about N1,900 to the dollar, with the naysayers and the opposition predicting a total destruction of the currency. Their wish did not come to pass, as the currency rebounded to earn global acclaim as the world’s best performing currency. After weeks of amassing muscle against the US dollar, the Nigerian currency weakened again. Now, the monetary authorities are working hard to ensure the currency did not fall into the abyss like it did in February, before the rebound.

Together with the  abrogation  of the subsidy regime, the forex harmonisation policy triggered an inflationary rage, with food inflation hitting unprecedented levels. Cost of living rose countrywide. Some analysts, however, blamed the inflation on other factors such as insecurity that prevented farmers from going to farm and the poor state of  roads, that escalated transportation costs, pushing up the costs of virtually everything.

The administration responded on many fronts with a raft of ameliorative policies. Last December, it offered subsidised bus transport and free train service to Nigerians going home for Christmas and New Year. The subsidy was also offered for the return journeys. Over 200,000 Nigerians benefited from the bus service. 

In agriculture, the government declared a food emergency, launched massive dry season farming in important crops such as wheat and maize, along with assisting farmers with N100 billion worth of fertilisers. The government released 43,000 metric tonnes of grains  in the reserves and bought another 60,000 metric tonnes of rice from local millers for distribution to the people. States, rich individuals, National Assembly members  joined in distributing food and cash to the vulnerable millions in the country. For months, food inflation resisted all the measures, hitting 33 percent in April. Government also rejected the panicky measure of importing food, reposing confidence in the Nigerian farmers,  that from their yields, Nigeria will overcome its food crisis. In recent weeks, the news from the markets has been that some food prices are going down.

As part of the ameliorative measures, the Tinubu administration  announced wage awards of N35,000 to Federal workers to enable them cope with food inflation and transport costs, as it works out a new national minimum wage. It  announced in July last year the Presidential CNG Initiative. Under the programme, that will herald a new industry and new jobs, hundreds of buses and tricycles, which will be powered by Compressed Natural Gas(CNG), will be locally assembled for countrywide rollout. Some of the vehicles will be electric for use in some Nigerian states, where CNG is not readily available. A panel to drive the vision was inaugurated in October 2023. However, bureaucratic delays slowed its procurement work.  A large number of the buses and tricycles will be available  as part of the ceremonies to mark the first anniversary of the Tinubu administration.

Businesses were not left out of the government’s mitigation measures. The Bank of Industry, in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Industry,Trade and Investment, is implementing the Presidential Conditional Grant Programme for nano businesses. Disbursement of N50,000 each to the applicants that registered began in April. Beneficiaries included retail marketers, corner shop owners, petty traders, market men and women, food and vegetable vendors, vulcanisers and shoemakers. Over 1,000,000 nano businesses are targeted. To help big businesses, the Government announced an aid package of N1 billion each to 75 of them.

The Tinubu government also approved $617 million for up-skilling Nigerian youths, providing startup funding, catalytic infrastructure, and policy advocacy. Youths with digital skills are now registering to benefit from the fund, being administered by the Bank of Industry.

In a country with 200 million people and tax to GDP ratio less than 10 percent, President Tinubu knew from day one, that it will be difficult to make any great, historic impact, if he fails to tinker with the tax structure and bring more money into the national purse. He announced his plan by setting up the Oyedele Committee on Tax and Fiscal Policy Reform, which is winding up its work and has recommended far-reaching reforms in the tax regime. President Tinubu also changed the leadership of the Federal Inland Revenue Service(FIRS) to plug revenue holes and introduce creative ways to increase revenue without necessarily overburdening the people. The result has been astonishing.  Government now takes 50 percent of the revenue of the MDAs, with a record N840 billion recorded in the first quarter. The NNPC was ordered to remit its dollar earnings into CBN.  Revenue inflow generally  is increasing. FIRS is working towards increasing the percentage of tax to GDP to about 20 percent.

The inflow of money is making the Tinubu administration dream big and plan big. With the Renewed Hope Infrastructure Fund due for launch, the government is already embarking on legacy projects, such as the  700 kilometre Lagos-Calabar Coastal Superhighway, which began in March. Government also plans to reactivate the Sokoto Illela-Badagry Superhighway, which was abandoned in 1976. Many roads and bridges in state of disrepair are to be refurbished. There are plans for rail. Funding for the Ibadan-Abuja-Kaduna rail is being arranged. Port Harcourt-Maiduguri rail will be resuscitated while the Kano-Kastina-Maradi rail line, started by the Buhari administration will be completed with $2 billion dollar loan already secured.

Government has not been short about rolling out several policy initiatives, from the issuance of travelling passports, which has been made quicker,  to the planned implementation of some aspects of the Oronsaye report, to cut the costs of governance.

Notably, President Tinubu issued an executive order to enhance investment in the oil and gas sector. The quick fruits of the policy was the opening of three big gas plants in the Niger Delta by the President in recent weeks. Mega investments running into over $15 billion are expected in weeks.

The Tinubu administration has also fulfilled some of the campaign promises with the student loans and Credit Corp ready for take off. To President Tinubu, no Nigerian child should be denied education because the parents could not afford it. He also hopes that the Credit Corp will enhance the purchasing power of workers and boost national commerce.

President Tinubu at various occasions has acknowledged the pains that some of his reforms  are causing the generality of our people. But he  says they are pains we must bear to make progress as a nation.  An ever caring leader, he is always evolving measures to help reduce the pains. Best of all, he listens to the voice of the people and make necessary adjustments.

 In one of the most profound analysis of our situation and an endorsement of the reforms being executed by the Tinubu administration, Planning and Budget Minister, Atiku Bagudu said in a recent interview: “We want to be like Asian countries, we want to grow like Brazil but Brazil and those Asian countries that we want, (that) we are competing with, have taken measures that we needed to have taken decades ago.

“The president is even bold to acknowledge that. Let’s do it now. Some of these measures have consequences which we acknowledge. And that’s why again, a number of measures are introduced in order to ameliorate the situation.

“These measures are helpful to Nigeria, irrespective of North or South because they are to restore macroeconomic stability, to restore security in the country and make it better so that investors will feel confident”.

. Onanuga is Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to President Tinubu

Dear William Ruto,

The images of your recent State visit to the USA were very disturbing to me and to every patriotic Kenyan.

I saw you seated on a chair, grinning, while Biden stood behind you, his face beaming with satisfaction. Why not? He had just announced that you had signed off our beloved Kenya to make it a non-member ally of NATO. In other words you had agreed to become Nato’s errand boy in America’s struggle with Russia and China for access to resources of the continent.

Ruto, do you know that Nato, murdered Muammar Gaddafi, so that Libyan oil-fields which Kaddafi had nationalized, would revert to the West? Kaddafi was once the chairman of the African Union of which Kenya was a founding member.

But this other picture was no less disturbing. While you were inside the White House, Haitians were in the streets demonstrating, calling you a slave. Do you know the history of Haiti? Please read The Black Jacobins the book written by a once Jomo Kenyatta Pan African ally, C L R James.

Haiti, now a Black people’s State, used to be a slave colony of France. But led by Toussaint Louverture, Haiti, the richest colony of its time, fought French slavery and in 1804 it seized its independence. In USA slavery was then in full bloom. America did not want its African slaves to emulate Haiti, and it has never forgiven Haiti for that, and thus begun the story of America’s destabilization of Haiti.

Ruto do you see the irony of your actions? The USA, was originally a settler colony taking over the land that belonged to Native Americans. In 1776 The White settlers declared their independence from their English King. But the colonized Native Americans remained colonized. Kenya was equally a British settler colony. The white settlers wanted to have a similar kind of Independence. But the Mau Mau led by Dedan Kĩmathi stopped them. Years later, Algeria, Rhodesia and South Africa would follow the example of Kenya. Thus the country you now lead, was the first to stop the historical trend of white settlers claiming themselves independent as in America, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

Ruto, you have chosen to betray that history of Pride.

Ruto, you have chosen to become an agent of the West?

Ruto, you have chosen to sell your country cheap.

Why, oh, Why?

Atlanta, Georgia

In my 1994 book, ‘Fortress on Quicksand’, which chronicled the presidential primaries of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and National Republican Convention (NRC) and profiled the contenders during the aborted Third Republic of General Ibrahim Babangida, I wrote that it was glaring to the discerning that the experiment would not last. I had the same premonition about the current democratic journey ushered in on 29 May 1999. Although I am now delighted to have been proved wrong, I had reasons to doubt that we would today be celebrating 25 years of unbroken democracy in Nigeria. But then, it is also glaring that civil rule does not necessarily approximate to democratic rule as we have seen in our country in the past 25 years. Neither does civil rule guarantee improvement in the welfare of the people as it is also evident.

Before I continue, let me state that there are three competing national issues today. Besides 25 years of unbroken democracy in Nigeria, yesterday also marked the first-year anniversary of the administration of President Bola Tinubu. And then, we have the ongoing political ‘game of thrones’ in Kano. While I have decided to allow that palace intrigues play out before expressing my opinion, the discerning can also see that on full display are all the elements that have conspired to hold back our democracy: a power struggle that has nothing to do with the welfare of the ordinary people, a thriving judicial black market where pay-per-order judges (and their collaborators in the bar) make a kill, the abuse of federal might by some Abuja powermongers etc. Whichever way it ends, the real losers are the people of Kano, the once-revered traditional institution and members of the same Fulani family who have now become pawns in the hands of desperate politicians.

For now, let me get back to the issue of our democracy and why I was skeptical that it would endure for this long. In February 1999, I covered the All Progressives Party (APP) national convention in Kaduna. The main contenders for the presidential ticket were the late Dr Abubakar Olusola Saraki, Dr Bode Olajumoke, the late Chief Arthur Nzeribe, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, the late Chief Harry Akande and Dr Ogbonaya Onu who also died recently. For three days in Kaduna, we were treated to a farcical drama by the party’s national chairman, the late Senator Mahmoud Waziri. The altercation between him and Saraki despite being long-term friends and associates added more to the entertainment. He said Saraki wanted to bribe him and provided the bromide of a N30 million cheque as ‘evidence’ to the media. At the end, no primaries were conducted only for us to hear the declaration of Onu’s name as the presidential candidate of the party. Less than 24 hours later in Abuja, under a curious merger arrangement between the APP and the Alliance for Democracy (AD), Onu was said to have ‘withdrawn’ for Chief Olu Falae—the presidential candidate of the smaller party who had been selected by a conclave of old men in Ibadan where an oath of secrecy was administered before ‘voting’!

Ordinarily, the AD should not have been registered because it did not meet the threshold prescribed in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) guidelines. To be registered, a party was required to secure more than 5 percent of the seats in at least 24 of the 36 states at the December 1988 local government elections.  While both the defunct APP and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) secured more than 5 percent of the seats in at least 30 states, the AD secured 5 percent in only 12 states. But the party was registered because the military, apparently to make up for the annulment of the June 12 presidential election won by Bashorun M.K.O Abiola, had decided the presidency would go to the Southwest. To do that successfully, they needed to get ‘Afenifere’ (whose members formed and had congregated in the AD) onboard. It didn’t take too long for Nigerians to realise that they were only working towards an already predetermined political end. That explains why, for the first (and to date, only) time in our history, we had a situation in which the presidential candidates on the ballot were of the same religious and ethnic affiliations.

A former military leader, General Olusegun Obasanjo, of course, won the presidential election but given what transpired at the time, not many Nigerians were optimistic that the experiment would last. The view from abroad was not different. A joint report by the American Carter Centre and National Democratic Institute (NDI) that monitored the election, for instance, stated: “Nigeria’s transition occurred without a constitutional framework or a genuine public debate on the nation’s constitutional future. Lacking a constitution, Nigerians cast their ballots without knowing what powers their elected representatives would have, how various levels or branches of government would interact, how the federal government and the states would share power, or even how long elected officials would serve in office.”

Given that unsure foundation, those of us who experienced military rule and its brutalities have much to celebrate about 25 years of unbroken democracy marked yesterday. Incidentally, today (May 30) is also very significant in our national calendar. On this day (May 30) in 1967, the late Dim Emeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu, then a Colonel in the Nigerian Army, declared secession of the then Southeastern region which he proclaimed the Republic of Biafra. That marked the beginning of a catastrophic civil war that claimed the lives of millions and set back the development of the nation. And the scars are yet to heal. More significantly, apart from the insanity of Boko Haram, every separatist movement in today’s Nigeria is fueled by real or perceived injustices created and sustained by the current structure. But while we must acknowledge our structural problem as a nation and deal with it, the major problem in the system today is the absence of good governance at all levels.

Nothing demonstrates that better than the haste in which the National Assembly initiated and passed a bill to replace the current national anthem with the old one that was jettisoned in 1978. At a period when the daily hikes of staple foods, transportation costs, school fees, house rent and other inescapable expenses have combined to further pauperise millions of Nigerians, changing the national anthem is the priority of our federal lawmakers. And they did not even bother to seek the views of Nigerians on the matter before rushing to pass the bill. That is also understandable. It is an open secret that our distinguished senators and honourable members acted the way they did just want to please President Bola Tinubu who is on record for saying the old anthem evokes “a strong spirit of patriotism” and that the current one is “far less inspirational”. It is therefore little wonder that the president would use the first-year anniversary of his administration to assent to the anthem-change bill!

Unfortunately, in that disgraceful haste to pass the bill that demonstrates how far removed our lawmakers are from the reality of daily living in Nigeria, there are certain considerations about the old anthem that they either did not know or simply glossed over. The “tribes” and “native land” in the lyrics arose from the prejudices of the British colonialists who gave us the anthem written by Ms Lillain Jean Williams. So, its retention betrays a shallowness of thinking and lack of awareness. Two, the line about standing in “brotherhood” is also contentious in today’s world. But perhaps the biggest issue is that when, during a conversation, any member of my generation (as well as those before us) says, ‘Nigeria we hail thee’, it is more a rebuke than a seal of approval—a reminder of our failings as a nation.

More egregious is that this cynical attempt to recreate a past that is not as glorious as being painted is simply because some people are too lazy to take responsibility for the future. It is not an anthem that will inspire leaders to be more accountable to the people. It is not an anthem that would put food on the table of hungry citizens. And neither the lyrics nor the melody of an anthem evokes a “spirit of patriotism.” Besides, there are far-reaching implications to bringing back an anthem that was last sung almost five decades ago in a nation in which more than 70 percent of the population is under the age of 30 and life expectancy is 55 years. So, I foresee a situation in which one day in the not-too-distant future, the National Assembly will pass another bill to revert to the current anthem!

The situation at hand in the country today is about digging ourselves out of the depth of adversity. That requires a different leadership template from what is currently on display. In a piece I wrote six months ago, I stated that most Nigerians are experiencing excoriating hardship before I posed the question: Do we blame Tinubu for the situation we have found ourselves? “Any objective analyst will concede that the president inherited a bad economy and the choices he has made regarding fuel subsidy removal and merging the exchange rates were designed to correct some of the distortions that brought us to where we are,” I wrote then and I still share that position. But I also added: “The problem with Tinubu is that he wants to lead not by example but rather by mouthing platitudes. While demanding sacrifices of Nigerians, he and other government officials want to continue to live ostentatiously.”

If Tinubu’s fixation is with the past, as suggested by the anthem gambit, he has not outlined either an economic or social development policy direction that suggests he even understands the realities of that past. Nor has he keyed into the ideas of the youth who, in yearning for a new world of opportunities like their counterparts elsewhere, have chosen ‘Japa’ with all the inherent risks. Unfortunately, while what we are seeing from the presidency is a preoccupation with personal ego, the current National Assembly has become notorious for unquestioning political sheepishness. As for the judiciary, we need not look further than what is happening in Kano where Judges are hawking conflicting orders almost the same way hungry lecturers sell their course ‘handouts’ to students in our universities.

Yet, what all the actors in the three arms (executive, legislature, and judiciary) fail to understand is that a democracy that is neither anchored on the rule of law nor tailored towards addressing the daily needs of the people is endangered. No matter how many times you change the national anthem!